Search privacy

Privacy has been a major topic in the news this past month because of the recent Cybersecurity Act of 2012 has failed to pass. Concerns about government monitoring raises questions about how to secure one’s self from prying eyes regardless of the viewer. In this weeks blog I’m going to discuss the protocol HTTPS and how it can be used to secure your search engine Google.  

            Well First, what is HTTPS? HTTPS is an application layer protocol that’s really two protocols layered HTTP and SSL that provide a secure way to transfer information to and from the web server that the web page your searching for is on. Not every web page incorporates this feature but there’s an easy way to check if it does. To do this, for example in your URL at the top of your web browser ex. (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome) your going to type the name of the web page but in front of the address enter “ https:// “.  Google’s search engine has recently added HTTPS so you can have an encrypted search from your computer to Google’s web server that keeps your searches from being intercepted by others. Enter https://www.google.com and you can enjoy encrypted searches.

Best Practices for residential-grade Wi-Fi routers

The boundary line of one’s home network is extended when the administrator adds a Wi-Fi hot spot to the infrastructure. Since many of the (SOHO’s) Small office Home office incorporate Wi-Fi hot spot, today’s topic will focus on residential-grade Wi-Fi routers and ways to configure its’ security features to make your homes network a little tougher for average unauthorized user to access.

Proper configuration after installation of residential-grade Wi-Fi routers never gets the attention that it deservers and users are usually left with a false sense of security. Here are some best practices to change a default configuration to one that has additional safeguards.

1.     Changing the default network address of the router.

2.     Changing the default password that allows access to the router.

3.     Take away the right to access the router from the Internet.

To gain access to the routers’ software called firmware one has to use a web browser such as Internet explorer, Safari, Firefox, Google chrome, and etc… to enter the routers network address. In its’ default setting, the router uses a address that if a user has the make and model of your router can Google its address to gain access to the firmware. For many manufactures “192.168.1.1” is the default address, so by changing the default network address of the router one can lower the chance of unauthorized access being gained easily. Once you enter your routers address, the authorization process begins. And the router has the user enter a default user name and password to gain full access to the firmware settings for configuration. Step two begins here, as just like step one, if the user has the make and model of our router can Google its default user name and password to gain access to the firmware. For many manufactures  “admin” or “administrator” is the default user name and password, so by changing the default username and password of the router one can allow the manufactures authorization safeguard to work in their benefit. In theory, the administrator can only access and configure the router. At this point, the administrator should take away the right to gain access to the routers firmware through the Internet. The reason this should happen is that it forces anyone who is trying to gain access to the router settings to have physical access to the router for its Ethernet connection.    

Password Protection

     It seems that password protection comes up a lot in security discussions, and the act of properly setting up a password for whatever you plan on securing can be a daunting task for novice computer users.

     Creating extremely complex passwords aren't the answer to solving your password security needs. I'll explain four easy rules that one can use to create secure but easy to remember passwords that will save one the embarrassment of creating a new account or contacting their administrator to reset existing accounts numerous times.

Password complexity- It's known that the length and addition special characters incorporated in the password can set the strength making it harder to randomly guessing what it is. 

• Passwords should at least be eight characters long.
• Contain at least one symbol and number.
• Should not be just a single word found in a dictionary.
• Contain at least one upper case letter.

     For example, lets take the typically used and weak password "love". 

This weak password can become stronger with by adding more characters "howtolove"

now lets add at least one symbol and number to make it even stronger. "howto1ove!"

By adding these adjustments, we changed the password from being a single 

word found in the dictionary to something more complex. Let's complete

our password by using our final rule so it contains at least one upper case letter. "Howto1ove!"

     Email clients such as Google incorporate safeguards that tell the user if the password entered during email setup are weak. When the user includes one of the four rules listed above the strength increases. If all rules are used, the user has added a level of complexity that can stop unauthorized access from simple password guessing.